Sun & Moon

Chapter 22 - Astrid

"I would not do such a thing," Rio states. "Not all vampires are monsters, Helena."

"No, only the hundreds of covens we've had to clear out over the past decade. Only those." Her tone drips with disdain. "And they always end up rebuilding. Like cutting off a Hydra's head."

In Silver Bow, magic was like a flame, its moths being the supernatural folks. Nobody, after knowing that magic resists, can resist its awesome pull to nurture, create, fancy, and even destroy. So, I was always under the impression that witches and warlocks didn't care much about the disputes between Lycans and vampires. But then again, Rio did tell me that the destiny bond touches upon them as much as it does on humans. Maybe these witches have grown to dislike vampires after all their years of being mated to Lycans.

"We never faced attacks in Silver Bow." I don't know why I said that, but now that I have, all eyes are on me. "Alpha Greywood ran quite a tight ship, actually."

"How nice," Helena responds with a feigned smile. "How nice it must be to live in a continent surrounded by waters where only a quarter of the world's vampire population lives, with not just two but three wolf packs to police the bloodsuckers."

I look down and bite my lips, regretting my interjection. She doesn't have to go on for me to know that Midnight Shadow alone protects this side of the western hemisphere while Crimson Storm has its hands full up north in the biggest country in the world. Maybe I'm starting to understand why the Lycans seem so uptight to the rest of the Mighty Five packs.

"And these filthy undead are not going to let up any time soon," she continues. "Especially if they keep spilling over from the most populous human countries in the east. But that's tiger territory." She turns her nose up at this and pointedly glances at me.

"Astrid is as much a wolf as you are, Helena," Rio comes to my defence.

But I can't let that rest. "Now what's your problem with tigers?" I ask, suppressing the glow that wants to emit from my eyes.

"You lot have all that natural power within you, but know nothing of working together," she remarks. "Your ancestors in Silver Bow scattered the moment the war was over, going back to live their solitary lives and have done so ever since."

"Helena," the younger woman with the bright blue hair interjects, her voice soft and almost inaudible compared to the older woman's. "You can't fault her alone."

"Ionna, nobody asked you," Helena retorts. "Besides, I am merely stating facts."

"Again, Astrid is as much..." Rio stops mid-sentence as I glower at him. He sighs, while Helena shrugs arrogantly.

"Anyway," Souleymane breaks the tension, glaring at his red-headed colleague. "Let us get back to the matter at hand. Ionna, let us begin."

Ionna, who seems a little shaken by our little conflict, takes a deep breath and utters something to herself. Possibly an affirmation. She raises her hands and begins to chant incantations. Slowly, the room grows darker and darker. I turn to look out a window and notice something like smoke glide over the panes until there is nothing but black.

"What's happening?" I whisper, but somehow the darkness seemed to have made my voice even louder than expected.

"In order to make this ring," Souleymane's voice startles me, "we must forge it in complete darkness with a searing light."

At this, two dots faintly glow where Souleymane is sitting. The light turns brighter until it is clear that the two dots are Souleymane's eyes. He, too, begins chanting but not in unison with Ionna, nor in chaotic timing. Their chants intertwine like an acapella ensemble, Ionna taking the soprano melody and Souleymane taking the baritone. A globe of light forms within Souleymane's palms, both cupped together, alighting the room and its five occupants. Ionna strengthens her incantations to wrap the darkness around the residual light until I see nothing but the spherical light. I instinctively reach my hand out to the side where I feel Rio. He wraps his fingers around mine and I feel his pulse quicken as much as mine.